JONATHAN SAVES DAVID Saul’s actions revealed his very shaken psyche, having realized that his throne started to fall apart: his son, the crown prince, supports David; his daughter Michel saves him; and even the prophets stand by his side... And now David encounters Jonathan, representing the chief officer of the royal court, to admonish him for his father’s actions. In great honesty, Jonathan revealed what was in his father’s heart, made a covenant with David before the Lord and advised him to escape, after they kissed one another, weeping bitterly. 1- David admonishes Jonathan 1 – 11. 2- Jonathan consummates David’s plan 12 – 23. 3- Jonathan explores his father’s heart 24 – 34. 4- Jonathan saves David 35 – 42. 1- DAVID ADMONISHES JONATHAN David realized that Saul insisted on killing him, having sent three missions, and come by himself, for no other reason except to get rid of him; But God saved him. David fled from Ninth to Ramah, and came to his close friend Jonathan to seek his advice. The events of this chapter came to reveal to us the unique personality of Jonathan as far as love and loyalty are concerned. Having realized that David, whom he loved as his own soul, was certainly going to get the throne of his father (1 Samuel 20: 14 - 17), he revealed his acceptance of God’s will with joy, advised his friend to escape from his father’s hand, and did his best to the account of him, who is going to inherit his own father. The events also reveal more about the aggressive personality of Saul, whose hatred moved him to try to kill Jonathan, his own son, because he supported his friend. David came to Jonathan, to seek in him the loving heart, to admonish him for his father’s behavior, and to seek his advice and support. Indeed the one who sat on the throne, wanted to kill David, but God opened up the heart of Jonathan, the closest to Saul, to love David, and to plan for him through the royal court... Thus, whenever evil tries to close a door, other doors are opened before us. “What have I done? What is my iniquity, and what is my sin before your father, that he seeks my life?” (1 Samuel 20: 1). David tried to justify himself, asking Jonathan to kill him himself, if he found iniquity or treason in him; as he would prefer to die justly by the hand of Jonathan his friend, to die unjustly by that of Saul or one of his servants (1 Samuel 20: 8 - 10). Although David was honest with everyone, he encountered several troubles and oppressions, that he expressed in his seventh psalm, saying: “O Lord my God,... Save me from all those who persecute me; and deliver me, lest they tear me like a lion, rending me in pieces, while there is none to deliver. O Lord my God, If I have done this: If I have iniquity in my hands, If I have repaid evil to him who was at peace with me, or have plundered my enemy without cause, Let the enemy pursue me and overtake me; Yes, let him trample my life to the earth, and lay my honor in the dust” (Psalm 7: 1 - 5). David speaks in the pleural, saying: “Save me from (all those)...,” then proceeds in the singular, saying: “Lest they tear me like (a lion)...”; That is because, 2 although those oppressing and pursuing him are many, it is only one who is behind them - the Devil, according to St. Basil1. Some saintly fathers believe that David’s words to Jonathan, as well as those in the seventh psalm, where he justifies himself, saying: “What have I done, and what is my iniquity?,” and: “If there is iniquity in my hands,” all were symbols of the Lord Christ, who, although he is alone without sin, yet, the devil has tried like a lion to devour him on the cross. But the enemy was destroyed, and Christ was risen, to lift up his believers with him. “O Lord my God, If I have done this” (Psalm 7: 3): “The ruler of this world is coming, and he has nothing in me” (John 14: 30). “If there is iniquity in my hands” : “Who committed no sin, nor was guile found in his mouth” (1 Peter 2: 22). “If I have repaid evil to him who was at peace with me”: “They cried out saying: Crucify Him, Crucify Him” (John 19: 6). “Let the enemy pursue me, and overtake me” : “The last enemy that will be destroyed is death” (1 Corinthians 15: 26). “Yes, Let him trample my life to the earth” : It is not possible to trample life to the earth. “And lay my honor to the dust”... The Psalmist supplicates for the sake of his enemies, for God to be glorified in their earth, when they stop their animosity, and God is glorified in them. St. Jerome2 Anyway, as the soul walks in the way of perfection, through its enjoyment of the new life in Christ, the only perfect One, it would be exposed to wars from every side, incited by the evil one against it; Yet it would gain victory and conquest. And as said by St. Augustine: [Every war and every animosity will be defeated, for him who became perfect; to have no other enemy but the envious devil... The apostle says: “Your adversary the devil walks about like a roaring line, seeking whom he may devour” (1 Peter 5: 8). That is why, after the Psalmist spoke in pleural, saying: “Save me from (all those) who persecute me,” he says in the singular: “Lest they tear me like (a lion)” (Psalm 7); having known the real enemy of the perfect soul3]. David openly proclaimed his great fear of Saul, saying: “But truly as the Lord lives, there is but a step between me and death; So Jonathan said to David, ‘Whatever you yourself desire, I will do it for you” (1 Samuel 20: 3, 4). That is how “love does not seek what is hers, but what is other’s”. David advised Jonathan on how to reveal what is in his father’s heart; He did that with the spirit of meekness and humility, not abusing Jonathan’s love for him; He said to him, “Let me go” (1 Samuel 20: 5); as in the absence of Saul, David took his orders from Jonathan, and submitted to him. Before departing, David fell on his face to the ground, and bowed down three times (1 Samuel 20: 41); a sign of respect to him, as the son of a king, and out of gratitude. His advice was, briefly, for David to fail to sit with the king to eat on the new moon for three days, on pretense that his brother ‘Eliab’ asked him to attend the family’s yearly sacrifice; to which Jonathan gave him the permission to do. That was to see what the reaction of the king would be: If he consented, that would indicate his . 1 القمص بيشوي كامل: تأملات في المزامير، مز 7 2 On Ps. 7. 3 On Ps. 7. 3 good intentions; but if he got mad, that would indicate that he determined evil against David. 2- JONATHAN CONSUMMATES DAVID’S PLAN In a form of prayer, as it was the custom sometimes, Jonathan vowed, saying: “The Lord God of Israel is witness! When I have sounded out my father sometime tomorrow or the third day, and indeed there is good toward David, and I do not send to you and tell you, may the Lord do so and much more to Jonathan...” (1 Samuel 20: 12, 15) He confirmed that if his father’ intentions were good, he would send him a messenger to tell him the good news, and to let him return to resume his work in the royal court; But if it was the other way round, he himself would personally come to inform him, for the sake of David’s safety. He prayed for him to go in peace and in God’s care, until it was time for him to reign; then added: “May the Lord be between you and me, and between your descendants and my descendants forever” (1 Samuel 20 : 42). As it was the custom for a new king, to kill the king he replaced, together with all his descendants, to avoid any chance of rebellion by anyone of royal descent (1 Kings 15: 29; 16: 11). Actually, David kept that promise (2 Samuel 21: 7). 3- JONATHAN EXPLORES HIS FATHER’S HEART Jonathan explored his father’s heart on the second day of the banquet. On the first day, the king assumed that David did not attend because something had happened to him to make him unclean; But on the next day, when he asked Jonathan about the reason behind David’s absence, Jonathan told him that David asked his permission to go to Bethlehem, at the request of his brother to partake of his family’s yearly sacrifice; Here, Saul’s anger was aroused against Jonathan, and he said to him: “You son of a perverse, rebellious woman! Do I not know that you have sided with the son of Jesse, to your own shame and to the shame of your mother’s nakedness? For as long as the son of Jesse lives on the earth, you shall not be established nor your kingdom. Now therefore, send and bring him to me, for he shall surely die” (1 Samuel 20: 30, 31). By this insult, Saul did not mean to insult his son’s mother but to insult his son himself. And when Jonathan tried to defend David, Saul cast a spear at him, to kill him, by which Jonathan knew for sure that it was determined by his father to kill David. What did Saul mean by such horrible insult to Jonathan? You are a son of a harlot, mad for men, who chases the passersby. You are a miserable, fainthearted, hermaphrodite; with no sign of manhood; living in your own shame and in that of your mother. Now what happened to Jonathan? Did he get grieved by what he heard; Did he hide his face in shame, and forsake his friend? No, on the contrary, he considered his friendship to be an adornment. One of them - Jonathan - was a king and the son of a king; and the other - David - was a fugitive; Nevertheless the first one did not get ashamed of his friendship. St. John Chrysostom1 1 In 1 Cor. Hom 33. 4 Saul, finding no proper response to Jonathan’s defense of David, cast a spear at him to kill him. That is the spirit of evil, that persecutes the truth and whoever utters it, using violence and authority. When the Jews could not argue with the Lord Christ - the Truth itself - “They took up stones to throw at him” (John 8: 59); And when they “could not resist the wisdom and the spirit with which Stephen spoke,” they stoned him (Acts 6: 9 - 15). Anger clouded the eyes of Saul; he did not find how to answer his son, except by casting a spear at him to kill him; together with the most horrible insults. If you discovered the existence of scorpions and serpents in your house, would you not do your best to get rid of them, in order to live in peace at your homes?! However, here you are aroused with anger; and the anger takes root in your hearts, and creates in them the scorpions and serpents of hatred. Yet, you are not purifying your hearts, the dwelling places of God!! St. Augustine1 Anger is a kind of madness; Whoever acquires it for himself, would get confused and would be like wild beasts. St. Eughris2 If man acquires all goodness, but has hatred in his heart toward his brother, he is a foreigner to God. St. Pachomius3 4- JONATHAN SAVES DAVID Jonathan went out into the field at the time appointed with David, with a little lad with him, so that no one would doubt where he was heading, but would assume that he was training on arrows casting Then he said to the lad, ‘Now run find the arrows which I shoot’; As the lad ran, he shot an arrow beyond him,... and cried out after the lad and said, ‘Is not the arrow beyond you?...Make haste, hurry, do not delay’ “ (1 Samuel 20: 35 - 38). That was a sign to David who was hiding in the field, that danger was chasing him, and that he had to escape. Jonathan gave his weapons to his lad, to carry them to the city; and as soon as the lad had gone, David arose, fell on his face to the ground, and bowed down three times, a sign of appreciation and of gratitude to Jonathan who cared for his life. The farewell was hot, they kissed one another and wept together, to separate with no further encounter on this earth. When David went on weeping, Jonathan said to him: “Go in peace, since we have both sworn in the name of the Lord, saying, ‘May the Lord be between you and me, and between my descendants and your descendants, forever” (1 Samuel 20: 42). By that they departed, according to the flesh; while their hearts love increased. How sweet is love, and how valuable! There is nothing that can destroy it, not even death! It is our everlasting treasure; The apostle Paul says: “Love never fails. But whether there are prophecies, they will fail; whether there are tongues, they will cease; whether there is knowledge, it will vanish away” (1 Corinthians 13: 8).
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